Artistic Gymnastics at the 1952 Summer Olympics

There were several new things in gymnastics at Helsinki. Mainly the Soviet Union had finally entered the Olympic Games and their gymnasts, men and women, would quickly become the dominant nation, although the men were soon challenged, and even surpassed for several Olympics, by the Japanese. The women gymnasts were greeted in Helsinki by a full program, including four apparatus events and finally an individual all-around competition. Further, the women had a seventh event, which would only be contested in 1952 and 1956, the team, portable apparatus all-around. This was somewhat similar to a team rhythmic gymnastics competition.

The Soviet dominance in Helsinki can be seen by the medal lists. Overall they won 9 gold medals and 22 medals, with men leading with 5 golds in 8 events and 11 of 26 medals, while the women won 4 of the 7 events and over half of the medals, with 11 of 21.